AAP claims Bawana, a blow to BJP

Bawana by-poll came as the saving grace to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after continued losses in MCD polls and assembly elections in Goa and Punjab.

The Aam Aadmi Party retained the by-election to the Bawana Assembly constituency by a margin of over 24,000 votes. It previously won the seat in 2015.

The verdict came as a setback to BJP who was sure on winning the constituency after the civic polls earlier this year. The seat fell vacant in March when Mr. Prakash, who was the AAP MLA, quit and joined the BJP ahead of the municipal corporations’ elections in April.

According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, with 59,886 votes, AAP candidate Ram Chander came first, followed by BJP candidate Ved Prakash (35,834 votes), and Congress candidate Surender Kumar (31,919 votes).

This was the second by-election for AAP after its historic win in 2015 Assembly polls where it won 67 out of 70 seats. The by-election to the Rajouri Garden seat in April was won by the BJP, taking its total to four legislators. With the Bawana result, the AAP retains 66 seats in the Assembly.

One of the largest constituencies in Delhi, with a total of 2.94 lakh registered voters, Bawana saw 45% turnout for the August 23 by-poll.